The Architecture of Failure

by Douglas Murphy

Against those who consider architecture to be a wholly optimistic activity, this title shows how the history of modern architecture is inextricably tied to ideas of failure and ruin. By means of an original reading of the earliest origins of modernism, the Architecture of Failure exposes the ways in which failure has been suppressed, ignored and denied in the way we design our cities. It examines the 19th century fantasy architecture of the iron and glass exhibition palaces, strange, unprecedented, dream-like structures, almost all now lost, existing only as melancholy archive fragments; it traces the cultural legacy of these buildings through the heroics of the early 20th century, post-war radicals and recent developments, discussing related themes in art, literature, politics and philosophy. Critiquing the capitalist symbolism of the self-styled contemporary avant-garde, the book outlines a new history of contemporary architecture, and attempts to recover a radical approach to understanding what we build.

Genres: Architecture, History, Nonfiction, Cultural

167 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2012

About the author

Douglas Murphy is an architect who has written a clutch of books and a lot of articles. He spends much of his time in an architecture school.

Reviews

[Andrew]

Like so much phenomenologically influenced writing, the thesis here is shoddy at best, but each observation is remarkably prescient. Murphy, like any sensible contemporary observer, adulates over the grand spectacles of early modernisms, even as he appreciates their contradictions, and is suitably appalled by the theme-park architecture of the present moment. Get Gehry for the ‘gram. Like I said, it doesn’t cohere, but damn if I didn’t enjoy every paragraph. I so wish this had been more of a self-admitted rant than good writing in support of a weak thesis statement.

[Em · Rating 2 out of 5]

Starts out OK with its analysis of Crystal Palace and Albert Palace, but then goes on and on criticising everything that architecture has done since, particularly deconstructivism. I chuckled at the description of Jeremy Clarkson as a "right-wing libertine car bore" and liked that every mention of Philip Johnson was preceded by "the fascist", but mostly I found the book very boring and rambly.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first few chapters are brilliant, but this book falls apart as Murphy tries to bring his ideas of architectural failure closer and closer to the present. His ideas become more generalized and his observations less sage.